Do the Wheel Bearings on Your Older Vehicle Need to Be Serviced?
Do you ever wonder how a road wheel is able to turn on what is essentially a static assembly? The magic is contained within a tiny part known as a bearing that sits in between the wheel itself and the hub assembly. As you can imagine, this component has to deal with a tremendous amount of wear and tear and will eventually fail. Why is it important, therefore, to service these bearings from time to time, and how do you go about this?
Bearings at Work
Each individual wheel bearing is made from highly tempered steel. Within the bearing, you will find a large number of individual balls or rollers that rotate within an inner and outer race surface. Crucially, the inside of the bearing is smothered in grease to counter friction and ensure that the bearing can function at high speed.
Older Vehicles
Many modern-day vehicles are fitted with maintenance-free bearings that are designed to last for a certain period of time before being replaced in their entirety. However, cars that were manufactured more than 20 years ago may be fitted with bearings that will need to be serviced once every couple of years.
Not for the Fainthearted
This is quite an involved job, and while it may be possible for a weekend mechanic to do it at home given the right tools, it can be very messy. In this situation, most people will take the car to a qualified mechanic instead, who will be used to the approach involved.
Servicing the Bearings
Once the assembly has been removed, the mechanic will be able to access the bearing. However, they may need to use a hammer and punch to free the bearing from the hub assembly as it may have become stuck to the spindle due to centrifugal force. They will then need to clean the outside of the bearings and the spindle to get rid of excess grease and often use brake cleaner or another harsh chemical to eliminate stubborn deposits.
Once the wheel bearing has been properly cleaned and all the old grease removed, the new product has to be introduced. This is certainly the messiest part of the job as the mechanic will need to work the new grease into every part of the wheel bearing from all sides. Once they can see that there is a copious amount of grease all the way to the backplate, they will carefully reassemble all the other parts.
Tell-Tale Signs
If you have a vehicle of that certain age and may have noticed a strange, knocking sound as you turn a corner, it may be time to get those bearings serviced.
To learn more, contact a shop that does mechanical repairs.
